22 Heatblight: The party woke and left Yantos's cave to stretch and exercise in the clear space outside the entrance. Yantos appeared after a short wait; no one saw him arrive. Al-Zaki (still a dragon) translated while the others asked their host questions.
Yantos saw a necromancer pass through the Haunted Rift one night about five weeks ago. He was tall, with black robes and a long beard, but his face was hidden by his hood and the dark. He was accompanied by a dozen walking corpses, and seemed to have no fear of the dream-eaters. He carried no visible weapon, but one of his undead carried a scythe. Necromancers have passed through the Rift before, though rarely; Yantos could not tell if this one had visited here before. He had heard tales of a community of necromancers on the far side of the badlands. The Ranae occasionally go to the badlands, but never to the necromancers' land beyond it.
In his youth, Yantos had visited the badlands. He had met and spoken with the "Mynars," a race of bull-headed creatures, and learned some of their language. The Mynars are not bright, and are hard to communicate with; they are also cannibals. Most are about a head taller than a human; smaller than that was rare, but larger was not uncommon.
Other dangers of the badlands include: large snakes; giant scorpions; ravens (some unusually large and intelligent); some more normal animals (wolves, large rats, etc.); various things the necromancers have created; and perhaps even dragons (?). [Al-Zaki knew of none in the area, but hasn't been there himself.]
(Laylah sensed that Yantos was being truthful, but felt something strange and unsettling about his aura. She stayed very quiet during this conversation. Darra grew very thoughtful at the mention of the Mynars, while Naima quietly fought panic.)
Yantos had one small favor to ask them before they left. He needed a skilled climber to help return some chicks to their nest. Naima volunteered. The nest was about halfway to the southern end of the Rift, so they walked there after gathering their things. The gigantic nest was located on a ledge about halfway up the cliff face, and the party could see a couple of fuzzy specks on a ledge below it. These were the chicks. They were a kind of large eagle. This was the only nest of that species in the area; the parents had recently disappeared, so Yantos thought that if the chicks were returned to the nest, and given some food, then that would buy time for him to find a better plan for their survival. Naima borrowed Al-Zaki's falconing gauntlets and Laylah's leather jacket and climbed up to the birds. They looked like typical baby raptors, but were the size of full-grown hunting falcons. She managed to net one in the jacket, carried it to the nest, and returned to do the same for the second. Meanwhile, Al-Zaki had gone hunting for some fresh meat, which he dropped into the nest as Naima climbed down. Yantos thanked her, then sat to watch the nest as the party continued south.
The party soon found the beginnings of a stream heading south, which would lead them to Rana after leaving the canyon. By late afternoon, the canyon opened up, giving them a view of green trees to the horizon. This was the first true forest Naima or Ruqayyah had ever seen. Laylah was ecstatic.
Al-Zaki wanted to leave them to hunt and then change into human form before leaving the canyon for the Ranae's forest. They agreed to meet at some prominent rocks near the forest's edge. The women swam and bathed while they waited. After his return, he said that he thought they could get most of the way to Rana before stopping for the night. If they met no scouts before then, the Ranae would find them during the night.
They entered the forest. After asking Al-Zaki about the Ranae's attitudes towards fire (small ones were allowed, if one was careful to have minimal impact on the forest), they found a campsite and gathered deadwood for a cooking fire.
Laylah had noticed that Ruqayyah was less enthusiastic about the forest than she had expected, so talked with her about it. Ruqayyah was depressed about her weird dreams, and her inability to find the answers to her questions about her life. Laylah helped her practice meditation after dinner, and they made some small but significant progress with those lessons.
The desert women had trouble getting to sleep in the alien noise of a summer night in a forest. During Ruqayyah's watch, she heard something moving in the trees outside camp. She stalked the noise in cat form, and saw a man with a spear and feathered headdress. She sneaked up on him and brushed against his leg, startling him. He pointed at the Mystic Mist-shrouded camp and spoke, but all she understood was the Ranae word for "seeker" [a priest, mage or other scholar]. She nodded; he backed away and vanished into the woods. Ruqayyah reported this encounter to the later watches.